Beard Playoffs

It's always bothered me that I can't grow a beard.  Not that I would necessarily grow one, but it would just be nice to know that I had the ability to grow it.  At best, my facial hair can be described as "patchy," and that's definitely a stretch.  My twin brother Josh can grow a decent beard.  It's full below the chin and decently full on his face.  But hey, I'm not hating, I'm jealous.

The NBA playoffs started on Saturday and one can't help but notice the tremendous facial hair that is being grown by today's NBA stars.  So in celebration of the start of the NBA Playoffs, and in celebration of facial hair, I have decided to combine the two.  Ladies and Gentlemen, I bring you the Facial Hair Playoffs.

Round 1

#1 James Harden vs. #4 Andrew Bynum

Our first matchup is between probable Sixth Man of the Year James Harden and Los Angeles Laker Big Man Andrew Bynum.  Harden has one of the finest and largest beards in the NBA.  It's definitely a source of pride for the Oklahoma City fan base.  Bynum recently sprouted this fresh new goatee, probably at the request of Kobe, in hopes that this will be bring greater maturity for the big man for the playoffs.


Edge: Harden

#2 Reggie Evans vs. #3 Gilbert Arenas

Our next matchup puts #2 seed Reggie Evans versus #3 seeded Agent Zero.  With Reggie Evan's track record of being a great teammate, and Arenas, well, not being a great teammate to say the least, Evans gets the lean.  Plus I'd take that illustrious beard of Evans's over Arenas's goatee any day.









Edge: Evans

#1 O.J. Mayo vs. #4 Mike Miller

#4 Seed Mike Miller is clearly over-matched here.  His patchy scruff is no match for this behemoth of a beard/neard that #1 seeded O.J. Mayo has going on.  This thing rivals Donovan McNabb in his hey-day.



Edge: Mayo

#2 Tyson Chandler vs. #3 Stan Van Gundy

Tough matchup here between Stan's mustache and Tyson's scraggly beard.  Chandler's beard has brought increased toughness and intensity to New York this season.  But Stan's mustache...Wow.  It's a thing of beauty.  It's got 70's porn star written all over it.  It rivals Burt Reynold's famous 'stache.  If Stan can win a title before his time in the NBA is over, it might go down in history as one of the greatest mustache's to ever grace our presence.




Edge: Van Gundy

#1 Chris "Birdman" Andersen vs. #4 Hedo Turkoglu

#4 seeded Hedo is in a tough spot against the Birdman.  Hedo's facial hair is extremely scraggly and he can only manage a neard.  While Birdman should probably be penalized for having a "FREEBIRD" tattoo on his neck, he keeps his dignity by trying to cover it with this beard.




Edge: Andersen

#2 Ronny Turiaf vs. #3 Mike Woodson

While #2 seed Turiaf has a tremendous face of hair, you've gotta admire Woodson's goatee.  It's a picture of perfection.  Full, and well groomed.  I'm extremely jealous.






Edge: Woodson

#1 Baron Davis vs. J.J. Redick

#4 seeded J.J. has a beard that I would strive for.  But that doesn't amount to much.  Its patchy and scraggly.  While Davis may be well past his prime, his beard most certainly is not.  The beard is still alive and well in New York.

Edge: Davis

#2 Marc Gasol vs. #3 Chris Paul

Paul's beard is your prototypical chin-strap beard. It's a picture of perfection.  But Gasol's beard is what every man strives for with a beard.  It gives him power and makes him appear to be a lumberjack.  This beard is intimidation.

Edge: Gasol

Round 2

#1 James Harden vs. #2 Reggie Evans

Tougher match up here, but you still gotta give it to Harden.  You could hide a family of birds in this thing.






Edge: Harden

#1 O.J. Mayo vs. #3 Stan Van Gundy

Mayo is trying to attain Baron Davis status with his beard, but he's just not quite there yet.  Van Gundy on the other hand is the standard for mustaches.

Edge: Van Gundy

#1 Chris "Birdman" Andersen vs. #3 Mike Woodson

Birdman is a great comeback success story, but Woodson's goatee is just too good.  Birdman looks like a meth dealer that has a lab in his trailer.  Woodson on the other hand keeps it classy with a well-groomed goatee.









Edge: Woodson

#1 Baron Davis vs. #2 Marc Gasol

Davis's beard is classic.  But Marc Gasol cannot be stopped.  He is a man among boys with his beard.  See picture -------->








Edge: Gasol




Round 3

#1 James Harden vs. #3 Stan Van Gundy

While Van Gundy's mustache may be a legendary 'stache, it's also a tad on the creepy side.  Look at this picture.  He looks like a registered sex-offender.  Harden, however, has a beard that just makes him look jolly.  Stan's run stops here just because of how he looks like a middle school gym teacher in this picture.

Edge: Harden

#3 Mike Woodson vs. #2 Marc Gasol

While Woodson's goatee may be well-groomed, it's the all-natural, mountain-man look that Gasol has going that pushes him over the edge.  That beard is just plain intimidating.  It will lead Memphis deep into the playoffs.  And remember, Grizzly Adams did have a beard.








Edge: Gasol




The Finals

#1 James Harden vs. #2 Marc Gasol

Harden was destined to win this championship.  You knew it, and I knew it.  Look at the respect his beard holds around the league.  Baron Davis, the king of the beard bows in respect of his once young padawan.  While Gasol has a powerful beard, Harden is the obvious choice.  Game, set, match.

Winner: James Harden

*Unfortunately for everyone, Lebron James and Gregg Popovich shaved their beards prior to the start of the playoffs, so they didn't make the list.

The Amendment

If nothing else, click the link at the bottom and watch the interview with the Reverend Sam Wells, the Dean of Duke Chapel.


I was raised in the "Bible Belt."  I go to church every Sunday.  I probably missed five Sundays over the last 5 years, if that many.  So I'm a stereotypical white male raised in the south.  But by voting against Amendment 1, I don't think as a Christian I'm being "un-Christian."  This is where I'm straying from that stereotypical, going to church, white boy raised in the Bible Belt.

In 8th grade I made a public profession of faith at a youth rally where Clayton King was speaking.  So that was where I made my own personal decision to follow Jesus Christ.  Obviously I haven't been perfect, but I've tried to be the best follower of Christ that I can be.

As a Christian, I believe homosexuality is a sin.  A big difference between it and other sins is that usually homosexuality is a "lifestyle."  While I may struggle with lying or another type of sin, homosexuality is usually embraced and not a sin that the person "struggles" with.  But no matter what you believe about homosexuality, I don't see how we as Christians can fight to legislate what we believe "marriage" is.  Yes, we as Christians believe marriage is a holy institution ordained by God, but since when have we forced the state to believe the same thing?  Basically any man and woman can go down to the courthouse and get hitched.  Do we require them to be Christians or to believe the same things about marriage?  No.

Some people say not passing this Amendment will ruin marriage.  How so?  The divorce rate is around 50%.  How will not passing this amendment "ruin" marriage?  By not passing this law, how will that change whether churches decide whether or not to perform gay marriages?  I just don't understand the logic behind this.  How can we as Christians tell the state what to do?  Wasn't this a nation founded by people fleeing persecution and founded on the principle of separation of church and state?

If this amendment forced churches to perform gay marriages then I would understand the logic.  But the fact is, the church is not the only institution that performs marriages.  How can we as Christians persecute and tell people how they should live and tell the state what they should do?  I just don't understand how this can be legal.

"You should not be in the business of trying to pass legislation to make people, who dont share your convictions, behave Christianly as you understand it, even though they've shown no desire to be Christians or to be the kind of Christians you are.  This is a nation founded on freedom and the separation of church and state." - Rev. Sam Wells


For the record I'll be voting against the marriage amendment.

Best Albums of 2011

So I decided to change it up a bit and not post about sports.  Maybe by posting about music I'll add a few new readers in the process.  This list is my personal opinion.  I'm no where close to being a music critic, but I like to think I know what's good music (this list) and bad music (Ke$ha, Nickelback, The Black Eyed Peas, etc.). There's a big Indie Rock lean, but hey there's a lot of really talented bands that fall under this genre.

So if you like that crappy music and you're looking to change your ways, or if you want a few new bands to listen to, here's some excellent stuff.  Just missing my list were: Wye Oak, Washed Out, Tennis, The Joy Formidable, J. Cole, and St. Vincent.  So go listen to all these bands too!  With each album I've put a track off the new album.  So without further adieu, here's my list of the top 15 albums of 2011:

15. Wilco - The Whole Love

14. Cults - Cults

13. Drake - Take Care

12. Girls - Father, Son, Holy Ghost

11. The Black Keys - El Camino

10. Radiohead - The King of Limbs

9. My Morning Jacket - Circuital

8. The Weeknd - House of Balloons

7. M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. - It's A Corporate World

5. Jay-Z & Kanye West - Watch the Throne

4. The Decemberists - The King is Dead

3. Of Monsters and Men - My Head is an Animal

2. Bon Iver - Bon Iver

Aaannddddd #1 is.......

1. Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues

It was extremely hard to choose between Bon Iver and Fleet Foxes.  I've listened to Bon Iver's self-titled album around 30 times and absolutely LOVE it.  It's one of my favorite albums ever.  But when I gave Helplessness Blues a listen, I was blown away.  It's an amazing album.  These two albums are two of the best I've ever heard, and two of my personal favorites.  If you haven't listened, do yourself a favor and listen to them.

Wolfpack Back?

The announcement by CJ Leslie that he was returning to NC State for his junior year brought elation to Raleigh.  Leslie improved leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Head Coach Mark Gottfried and Assistant Coach Orlando Early, especially when compared to the progression he made under former Head Coach Sidney Lowe.  Leslie was a completely different player last year for State, and was arguably the best big-man in the ACC down the stretch for the Wolfpack.  This announcement brings a lot of attention to State and brings a lot of hype and expectations for the team next year.

Usually the Pack doesn't do so well with high expectations (cough cough..Gavin Grant..cough), but maybe the Pack is actually deserving of the hype, even if it is just April.  But with UNC losing arguably their 4 most essential players from this year's Elite 8 team, they will almost certainly struggle to be as good as they were this year.  Duke also loses a lot with Austin Rivers, Miles Plumlee, Michael Gbinije all leaving the program.  Now rumors are surfacing that Andre Dawkins has been dismissed from the team (they're just rumors right now).  Duke is looking like they will struggle, especially if they don't land either Tony Parker or Amile Jefferson (something that is definitely possible).


Here's a little look at the possible line-ups/depth charts for the triangle schools:


Duke
PG Thornton             Cook
SG Curry                Sulaimon          ?Dawkins?
SF  Murphy            
PF (Mas)Plumlee     Hairston
C   Kelly                (Mar)Plumlee


UNC
PG Paige             McDonald      Strickland
SG Strickland     McDonald       Bullock        Watts
SF  Hairston          Bullock          Tokoto
PF  McAdoo        Johnson
C    James             Johnson

State
PG  Brown          Lewis                  Purvis
SG  Purvis           Brown                  Lewis
SF  Wood           Warren                 Leslie
PF  Leslie            Harris                  De Thaey
C  Howell           Vandenberg         De Thaey


We still don't know if Parker will pick Duke (probably not) or if Jefferson will pick Duke or State (fingers crossed for State), but regardless of these decisions, State clearly has a better lineup.  If Tyler Harris, Jordan Vandenberg, or Thomas De Thaey can become competent big-men, State should be pretty solid.  UNC is extremely unexperienced, probably starting 2 freshman and 2 sophomores, and Duke is very, very thin, especially if Dawkins is dismissed.  I like our chances.

Granted other teams in the ACC could step up next season (FSU is losing a TON from this year's team, so don't expect them to be quite as good), I think NC State has a very good shot to do well next season in the ACC.  I don't wanna jinx it, but the Wolfpack might be back.

Turning Back Father Time

Y'all, my boy Derek Jeter is killing it this year.  KILLING IT.  After an awful 2010, and a really slow start to 2011, it looked like Jeter was definitely on the downside of his career.  He was putting up career low numbers and had obviously lost a step in the field and on the base-paths.  Needless to say, I was devastated that my favorite athlete since the age of 7 was going out like this.  It wasn't supposed to happen this way.

But come July last year, Jeter began to turn it around.  In July, August, and September, Jeter hit .292, .387, and .303 respectively.  It looked like maybe he wasn't done quite yet...

At the start of this year I had low expectations for Jeter.  He batted .297 last year (a big difference from the career low .270 that he hit in 2010) and I expected for him to be right around there.  He was turning 38 this year after all.

BUT AU CONTRAIRE!  Coming into tonight, Jeter was hitting .385 with 3 home runs and 4 doubles.  He didn't hit his second home run last year until May 8th, and that was because he hit two that day!  I know, it's early in the year, but he's off to a monster start for a 37, soon to be 38 year-old.  Obviously his average will get lower over the course of the year, but it looks like Jeter has corrected the problems he was having with his swing over the last 2 years.

He's back people.  Maybe he asked Mariano Rivera what his secret was.  Maybe he had some secret injury that he was fighting over the last 2 years and decided to go to Germany like Kobe and A-Rod.  Or maybe Minka Kelly was a wet-blanket (coincidence that they dated while he struggled like this?).  Whatever it is, it's working.  Watch out y'all.

Go on Take the Money and Run

When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is. -Oscar Wilde


So this is my first real blog post.  I hope it's not too listy or drags on for too long or anything.


For Lent I decided to give up Facebook and Twitter.  So obviously, upon my return I tweeted that I was back.  I didn't decide to make a status update on Facebook until this morning.  Once I woke up this morning I opened up my computer and checked out ESPN, Twitter, and Facebook, which was my old morning routine.  As I was browsing through Twitter I saw all the sports guys were talking about Cody Zeller and Christian Watford and how they were coming back to Indiana for their sophomore and senior seasons.  Zeller was listed at #6 on ESPN's Chad Ford's Big Board.  Immediately after reading that he was returning to Indiana, I thought "Is this guy a moron?!? He's gonna be a top 10 pick!"  One NBA Executive even said that they would take Zeller second in the draft.  Second!  And he's returning to school?  Why in the world would he do that?


This is extremely similar to UNC freshman forward James Michael McAdoo.  McAdoo was ranked #7 on Ford's Big Board and he announced last week that he would be returning to school for his sophomore season.  Again, I thought "Is this guy a moron?!?"  Why would someone rated so highly take the risk of returning to college?  


After these thoughts crossed my mind, I resorted to my typical avenue of self-expression... my Facebook status.  I promptly posted "Cody Zeller and James Michael McAdoo are idiots for staying in college.  Just my opinion."  And just like numerous other status updates, the comments poured in.  Right now the comments are at 99, oh make that 100, and still growing.  Surprisingly, most people that commented agreed with me.  Not as surprising was the fact that my twin brother, Josh, disagreed.  He says I don't have the right to question a guy's decision.  Obviously, I disagree.  Like most brothers, we frequently disagree and argue with each other.  It doesn't help that he went to UNC.  And I'm a terrible debater, so I'll admit that Josh has won the vast majority of our arguments over the years.  But this time, I know I'm right and here's why.

1. They run the risk of losing MILLIONS of dollars!

James, I don't know if you followed the NBA Draft last year and the weeks that preceded it.  But last year, your teammate at UNC, Harrison Barnes, made the decision to come back to school, in part to enhance his "brand," which I assume includes making himself better.  Well, that didn't work out so well for ol' Harry.  Jay Caspian King had a nice take for Grantland on the Black Falcon's "Brand" and how that thought process of Barnes' doesn't seem to have worked.

Barnes was considered a top 3 draft pick in the 2011 draft, and possibly the #1 overall pick.  Sounds like a pretty sweet deal to me.  #1 pick, can't get any better.  But alas, Barnes returned to UNC, probably hurt his "brand" and saw his draft stock fall.  We saw how Barnes couldn't create his own shot off the dribble, how he was one-dimensional, how he wasn't that quick or explosive, and how he struggled handling the ball (I said this last year, but that's neither here nor there).  This year Barnes is rated the #6 player on Ford's Big Board, and that's only after Zeller and McAdoo announced that they would not enter into the draft.  So before these announcements, he was rated #8.  How big of a difference is that?  Well let's see.

Let's pretend Barnes had been selected #2 overall last year by the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Their real #2 pick, Derrick Williams, signed a contract for $14.4 million dollars over 3 years, with a team option for a 4th year, where he would make $6.3 million dollars.  The player drafted #8 overall, Brandon Knight, signed a contract with the Detroit Pistons for $5.2 million over 2 years, with team options for a 3rd and 4th year, making $2.8 million and $3.5 million respectively.  That's a huge difference!  Now, luckily for Barnes, Zeller and McAdoo are returning to school, so he won't lose quite as much money, but he's still going to lose a significant amount of money.  All because he returned to school.  He was exposed.  He was a consensus top 3 pick, and he saw that vanish.

Barnes wasn't the only consensus lottery pick that returned to school this past year.  Last year, Terrance Jones of Kentucky, Perry Jones III from Baylor, and Jared Sullinger all were projected top 10 picks, and maybe top 5 picks.  All of them returned to school for another year.  All of them will be drafted lower than they would've last year.  How can all 4 of these guys explain that???  Last year's draft class was one of the weakest in recent memory and was perfect for these players to leave because they were certain to be high picks.  What in the world would make them all want to return to school?  Were they wanting an education? I doubt it, but...

2. You SERIOUSLY think they like their classes and school enough to return to school?

My brother brought up that maybe McAdoo and Zeller value their education.  Come on.  Seriously? Can anyone really think that?  2 former McDonald's All-Americans value education over their career as basketball players?  Give me a break.  If that were true, then why do all of these kids go to the NBA before earning their degree?  Barnes, Jones, Jones, and Sullinger are all sophomores, and all are headed to the NBA this year.  It doesn't appear that they were valuing their education and made their decisions based on finishing their degree.  So let's be honest, Zeller and McAdoo aren't doing that either.  Both are almost definitely going to enter the 2013 NBA Draft.  

Josh also threw out how Andrew Luck said he enjoyed his college classes and wanted to stay in college.  Well Andrew Luck also majored in Architectural Design and was 3/4 of the way to attaining a legitimate, you have to be smart kind of degree.  Completely different situation.

3. You can improve while you're in the NBA

Why do some people seem to think that the only place to make improvements is in college?  Why can't guys improve while they're on an NBA roster?  With NBA coaches, and an NBA strength and conditioning program, why wouldn't guys get better?  If they've got the will to improve, why wouldn't they improve in the NBA?  Don't get me wrong, I definitely think it's smart for lots of players to come back to school to improve their game in hopes that they'll improve their draft stock and be a better NBA player.  But that's the thing, it's to improve their draft stock.  All of these guys were projected lottery picks!  Heck, they were all projected top 7 picks! What were they going to improve by staying in school?  Barnes, Jones, Jones, and Sullinger all had question marks surrounding them preceding the draft last year, so seemingly, they all came back to school to improve in those areas.  Well, after 1 year, those question marks all remain for each of those players.  So what good did returning to college do?

For some players it is definitely in their best interest to come back to school and improve their overall games.  Cody's brother, Tyler, returned to UNC for his senior season this past year and it was a fantastic decision for him.  He improved and made himself a fringe lottery pick for the upcoming draft.  But before last year's draft, Tyler was projected to be a mid-to-late 1st round draft pick.  Cody Zeller and McAdoo were both projected top 7 picks.  Which leads me to...

4. It's unlikely that they'll improve their draft stock by returning to school

Cody Zeller was considered the #6 overall prospect by Ford, and one NBA Executive said he would take Zeller with the number 2 pick after Anthony Davis. The number 2 pick!  McAdoo was considered the 7th best prospect.  By coming back to school, are they going to improve that?  It's going to be extremely hard for those two players to move up even higher in mock drafts come this time next year.  These two could also possibly incur serious injuries next year while in college that could have serious ramifications on their playing careers and where they're drafted next year.

I don't buy into the thought that guys can change their destiny as basketball players by staying in college longer.  Guys that work hard and have the skills will make it in the NBA.  Leaving early isn't going to change that.  So what exactly was the logic behind these decisions?  I guess only Zeller and McAdoo know.  It's easy to criticize these decisions from my couch, but these guys are gambling millions of dollars by returning to school.  I think that if you're a projected lottery pick, and a high lottery pick like these two, you HAVE to declare for the draft.  C'mon guys, go on take the money and run.

Who am I?

Well, I never thought I'd start a blog.  I definitely don't consider myself a good writer, or even a decent writer.  But this will probably be a better avenue for my thoughts than Facebook and Twitter.  It also helps that I get tired of all the notifications from people commenting on my statuses.  So here I am blog-world.

For those of you that don't know me, I'm Jordan Britton and I'm from the budding metropolis of Monroe, NC.  Since August of 2007 I've relocated to America's greatest city, Raleigh, NC.  During my first month here in Raleigh I was "saved" in a sense and became a die-hard Wolfpack fan.  I try to watch or be at every Wolfpack football and basketball game.  Being in Raleigh has also bred a deep, deep hatred for that school down the road that wears baby blue.  But I'm gonna try to stay unbiased when a topic involving them comes up.

I'm also a die-hard New York Yankees fan, so I'm pretty dang excited about this summer and possibility of the Yankees getting a 28th World Series title.  If Jeter, A-Rod, and Rivera can fight off father time and Michael Pineda and Phil Hughes can become the pitchers we want them to be, then they've got a legit shot at winning it all this year.  Having the YES Network (the Yankees' network that shows all home games) for the first time in my life is also extremely exciting.  Also for the first time in 5 years, I won't be working at Camp Tekoa, freeing up my summer, enabling me to play fantasy baseball and to follow baseball much closer than I have been in years past.  So, yeah, I'm excited for the next few months.

I'm also a fan of the Charlotte Bobcats (it's oh so hard to be, just like NC State sometimes) and the Carolina Panthers.  The NBA has grown on me the last 2 seasons (a great time in the history of the league to become a fan) and I try to watch as many games as possible.  But being a Bobcats fan is hard, so I'm a semi-fan of the Grizzlies and Jeremy Lin and the Knicks.  The Panthers finally got exciting this past year, so I'm finally enjoying watching them again.  Being in college the past 4 1/2 years has made me fall in love with college football, so the Panthers haven't gotten a lot of my attention recently.

So yeah, this blog is gonna be 95% sports, if not more.  I'm a big music fan, especially Indie Rock and Folk, so maybe I'll have a few posts here and there about the music I'm currently listening to.

I'm pretty opinionated, but I hope this blog makes my opinion more valid and makes me more "qualified" to have the opinions I have.  Hopeefully writing this will help me grow as a writer, because honestly I think I'm a terrible writer.  If you don't like my opinions, don't read this blog.